Domiziano Cristopharo
Trained in ecclesiastical art and born from a visual art background, Cristopharo breaks traditional narrative structures through dreamlike fragmentation and radical physicality. From award-winning cult classics like House of Flesh Mannequins to the apocalyptic Red Krokodil and the provocative PHALLACIES, his body of work challenges aesthetics, taboos, and the politics of the flesh. He is a frequent guest at international festivals and a reference point in underground and arthouse horror.
"Everything is new, and everything becomes new again."
My Story
Domiziano Cristopharo: The Indie Director Who Resurrected Necrophilia in Underground Cinema
Master of Arts, graduated in Ecclesiastical Decoration and Interior Design from I.S.A. Roma 2, and in Scenography (with a thesis on film direction) from the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome, with top marks.
Domiziano Cristopharo is one of the most representative figures of Italian independent extreme and experimental cinema.Founder and curator of the festival The Optical Theatre, a platform devoted to visionary and research-driven cinema, Cristopharo focuses his artistic language on horror, eroticism, and the body as a space of artistic and identity expression.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated with internationally renowned figures such as Ruggero Deodato, Carlo De Mejo, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Mariagrazia Cucinotta, Lynn Lowry, Lucio A. Rojas, and Venantino Venantini.
As a special effects artist, he has also worked with Romano Scavolini, Alessandro Capone, and Krzysztof Zanussi.His film Red Krokodil achieved theatrical distribution in Italy, critical acclaim, and a David di Donatello nomination, later reaching the U.S. market.
He directed Nightmare Symphony (2022), the official reboot of Lucio Fulci’s Cat in the Brain, written by Antonio Tentori and featuring music by Fabio Frizzi.
In 2017, he produced and supervised the FX for American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice, distributed worldwide by Unearthed Films.In 2022, the University of Amsterdam hosted a special screening and roundtable on his film La Perdición, within the academic event “Staging Gender: Sexuality and Embodiment On Stage across Geopolitical Borders.”
In 2024, he stars alongside Lamberto Bava and Fabio Frizzi in the documentary Il Giro dell’Horror.Together with Dr. Cristo Gil Díaz, he created the first and only documentary about necrophilia in art, featuring Nacho Cerdà (Aftermath), Mark Reeder (Nekromantik 2), and Nico Claux (“the Vampire of Paris”).
The project is supported by the Research Center CUCRA (Cultura Urbana y Creación Audiovisual) of the University of La Laguna (Tenerife) and by the cultural platform Sui Generis in Madrid.His works have received multiple awards at Fantafestival, Nightmares Film Festival (USA), and Sadique Master (France).
He has been featured in specialized magazines such as Écran Fantastique and WIRED, both acknowledging his pioneering role in reviving Italian genre cinema.
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